Turnabout Psychosis
by Brady Corduroy
Summary: Fate and Destiny are fickle things. Sometimes they require only the smallest of actions, like the rip of a piece of paper, to change the course of history drastically. But realities are subjective things, and when this new reality creates an enemy more adept then any that Phoenix has faced before, he truly fears for he and his friends' safety. Phoenix/Maya
1. Rough Mornings

**Chapter 1: Rough Mornings**

 **April 17** **th** **, Wright and Co Law Offices**

Phoenix Wright was suddenly jerked awake by the movements of the young girls on his lap. He looked at the clock on his cell phone to see that it read 10:43 PM. This was actually pretty early for the two young girls who'd often stay up late into the night, far past what Phoenix was capable of sticking around for. He'd usually check out around 11:00, 11:15 on a good night, to the bedroom and let the two do their thing. Tonight though, they'd all somehow fallen asleep far too early. Phoenix had already regained enough of his consciousness to regain recognition of the people on top of him.

To his left was the smaller of the two, Pearl Fey. She was still just a small girl, but it was deceiving of her true powers and abilities. Only nine years old, but a steadily improving strength she had. Her hair was usually in a small topknot that resembled a heart on the top of her head, but she had taken it out long since returning back to the office that also served as Phoenix's home. Usually she hated going to sleep because she didn't want to miss "the moment" with him and Mystic Maya, but right now she was in a serene state that only sleep brought.

To his right was the bigger, and by some default, the older of the two, Maya Fey. No longer was she the young teenager Phoenix had met the night of Mia Fey's death, but a maturing young adult woman. Currently wearing the usual brand of acolyte training clothes she had worn since they had first met, it was actually hiding her new status as the Master of her home village, Kurain. She had grown so much in the past three years it had actually been almost inspiring to Phoenix. Even in the face of murder charges, kidnappings and even her mother's death, she had become a beautiful young girl.

 _Beautiful. So Beautiful._ He had begun stroking her hair through his fingers as she moving around, much more than just dreamy fidgeting. She was waking up. Phoenix quickly retreated his hand back to his side to avoid some sort of situation he couldn't describe in his drowsiness. He looked down to his right to see Maya's eyes were open and she was looking at him.

"Nick…" her voice was filled with sleepiness, her words lagging behind her the movement of her lips. "What are you doing…here?" She finished, but not before he grew nervous about her final word.

"You two feel asleep on top of me. I was trapped." He said with a light laugh. He couldn't hide the sleepiness from his own voice, making it clear just how "trapped" he had been.

"Whoops." She said. "Sorry." Her voice now sounded a little more awake, perhaps a little giggly. She then got up off the couch to allow Phoenix to get up. But he couldn't help but notice her giggling and laughing, what seemed to be at him.

 _What's so funny? Is it just what happens when she first wakes up or something?_ Phoenix thought to himself as he laid back down on his bed. Now he felt a tad bit too awake to just fall back asleep with no reserve. _Well may as well change into some sort of sleep clothing, my jeans and work shirt isn't very comfortable anymore._ He then took off his shirt and looked down to his pants and spotted it. What had made Maya laugh like a sleep deprived hyena.

… _Oh no. I must have… No no no no. Damn me and my seductive dreams! She must have seen it from a mile away!_

And then an even worse thought popped into Phoenix's mind.

… _Could it hav- No, no, no I will not even think about that! I refuse to! I plead the fifth!_

Phoenix put on some boxers and an "Ivy U" T-shirt on and thought nothing else to himself. He just desperately wanted to go to sleep, and eventually he did.

 **The next morning…**

Maya Fey really wanted a burger right now so badly. Even at 10 in the morning, burgers were her favorite comfort food. So succulent and tasty it was. Unfortunately none of the burger shops were open for business, or at the least not for selling burgers yet. Maya was afraid going and asking one of them for a burger now would get her the same result as when she'd asked the fireman if he could waterfall over her a few years ago: She'd get yelled at for even trying.

She didn't need that. Not right now.

Looking through the freezer, she saw that Nick did have some patties for cooking and heating up. Unfortunately Maya remembered that she didn't know how to use the stove and the times and temperatures for cooking patties. The last time she had tried, back at her Aunt Morgan's house in Kurain, she had unwittingly burnt out all the oil in the oven and it was unusable from then on. Aunt Morgan had tried to make Maya pay for the replacement costs, but since Maya didn't actually have any money at the time she dropped it.

She remembered this memory now and decided it may not be a wise idea to potentially burn down the office, so she searched for anything else in the freezer. "Bingo!" She said aloud to herself. "Toast able waffles!" Maya was glad to have found something tasty and edible that would not require much flammability in the end. She popped two into the toaster and was waiting when Pearls walked into the kitchen. The young girl had a cheerful smile on her face as she usually did, excited for what lie ahead of her that day.

"Good morning Mystic Maya!" she said in a chipper tone. "How are you doing on this wonderful morning!?"

Maya looked back at the little girl to reveal deeply reddened eyes. It looked as if she was hungover or she hadn't gotten any sleep, or worst of all to the little girl, had been crying. Her hands, her fingertips in particular, had a reflecting glow of sorts which looked like light coming off of her hands, but it was clearly water to Pearls.

"Mystic Maya! What's wrong?" She said alarmed. "Did something happen? Where's Mr. Nick? Did you get salt in your eyes again!?" There she went, asking twenty questions again, Maya thought to herself. _I wish I could explain it to you Pearly. I really wish I could._

Just then, the waffles burst out of the toast, doing its momentary somersault above before landing back in place for eating.

"I was… just making waffles for you!" Maya said, setting the waffles on a paper plate for her. "Eat 'em up Pearly!"

As much as they tried, it was quite obvious something was wrong and it made Pearl's appetite disappear into thin air. She just moved the plate over to where Maya was sitting. "I think you need it more than I do." She said. Maya simply rebuffed the offer by turning away from Pearl. "I'm not hungry." she said.

"But you don't look well!" Was the little one's reply. "I always feel better when I eat. It just makes feel so filled and ready!" She was quite discouraged when she realized Maya still hadn't even turned around to face her yet. "Did you have a bad dream last night? I know I feel not good sometimes when I have bad dreams."

"…More like lived one…" came in a mumbled ruffle from the master. It didn't escape past the hawk ears of Pearly though.

"What happened!?" She said, finally sounding something other than chipper and happy. She'd been trying her hardest not to get upset, but Mystic Maya wasn't even trying to help her, and it was finally showing. "I just want to help you!"

"I appreciate it, this is just between me and-"Maya stopped as she suddenly saw the bedroom door open. Walking out in a casual t-shirt and blue shorts was Phoenix, having woken up.

 **XXX**

 **On the Other Side of Town around the same time…**

Looking out at the golden streets of Los Angeles, Kristoph Gavin saw all the activity in the grand city below him. He saw flashy cars and men who looked as if they were made of money, while also seeing relic cars and people who didn't have a dime to their name. But to Gavin, they were all the same regardless of their status:

 _Fools._ He thought to himself. _Fools without a skill in the world to stand even close to me._

That morning was one of particular that had been quite successful for Mr. Gavin. He had checked the local court files to see that the trial for Zak Gramarye, set to begin the next morning, still had no defense attorney. Gavin had been hoping for this all weekend and into the beginning of the week. The Gramaryes were well known even to the riff-raff of the world, so this was a case he was very interested in. He didn't really know (or even care) about the man's innocence; he cared only about victory. After it wasn't through losses that he had earned the nickname "The Coolest Defense in the West" And so it was with great excitement that he opened the letter from D.M.

The letter contained what had appeared to be a diary page, signed from Magnifi Gramarye, the recently deceased. It looked exactly like the man himself had written it.

But Kristoph knew better. "Excellent." He muttered to himself. "I have this one in the bag." Now armed with this new evidence, he picked up the keys to his car and left his office. Walking out to a dark green car, Kristoph unlocked the doors to step in and began driving off to the Detention Center.

 **April 18** **th** **, 11:36 AM, Detention Center, Visiting Section**

Kristoph stepped into the Detention Center with his head up high and his spirits even more so. He felt confident that Mr. Engimar, or Gramarye as the commoners knew him as, would readily accept his defense. After all the trial was set to begin tomorrow, after several extra days for the police to thoroughly investigate. This was because of the extreme publicity of the case, the judge had granted an extra five days to investigators to make sure no mistakes were made. Still in all that time, it seemed very little beyond what they had started with:

The victim, Magnifi Gramarye, was shot once in the head with the show pistol left behind at the scene, a hospital Magnifi had been staying in for most of the past year. He had been slowly dying of cancer, but one of the two great magicians, Zak or Valant, had shot their great mentor it seemed, based on the amount of IV had been left in Magnifi's hospital room, which flowed between 11 and 11:30. There being any left spelled that Magnifi had been killed during this time.

Still, for having arrested a man on such a heinous charge as murder, the case seemed flimsy. Flimsy enough for someone with the skill of Kristoph Gavin to exploit. _I can already see the accolades coming to me. I'm going to be famous beyond the wildest of dreams…_

As he thought this to himself, a man emerged on the other side of the glass, a hulking big man. He wore a pink suit along with an identically colored hat. The clothes looked sweaty, as if they had been worn all this time he had been incarcerated, however the man himself looked quite relaxed. He wore a smile on his face that may have disarmed another man, but had no effect on Mr. Gavin.

"Mr. Engimar, I assume?" Came the question. The man's smile was unwavering.

"That I am, or Zak if you are a fan." He replied. "What can I do for you, even behind these walls?"

"I am Kristoph Gavin, a defense attorney. You may have heard of me?"

"Sorry Mr. Gavin. I am not particularly versed in lawyers, so I apologize for not knowing of you already."

 _So he's a cretin himself. I should have known from someone performing in such an art…_

"Not a problem Mr. Engimar." Came the real reply. "I am here because I understand you have a need for an attorney. After all you are behind these walls for a reason."

Zak shifted around in his seat, his first true movement since they began meeting. "I should have assumed that was why you were here…" The magician then pulled out a deck of poker cards and began dealing them out. "What do you say to a quick game, Attorney Gavin?"

Gavin nodded back as he received his hand. "They don't call me the quickest hand in the west for nothing…"

 **XXX**

 **April 18** **th** **, Wright and Co Law Offices, 11:36 AM**

"What's wrong Maya?" Phoenix finally asked her. The three of them had sat in silence all morning eating breakfast and just sitting around before Phoenix's question. Maya just let out an awkward laugh.

"Ph-Phoenix…" Phoenix became even more tensed up.

 _She never calls me by my real first name anymore! This-This is really bad._

"We can't-t talk about that while Pearly's here! You know that!"

"Hey!" Pearl interjected back. "I'm old enough to understand something's going on, and I wanna know too!"

Neither acknowledged her, Phoenix just staring back dejectedly.

"Nick, we can't talk about this right now. I know what I saw last night." Phoenix just stood on his feet, shaking with such intensity that it almost shook the table.

"When?" He asked, unable to hide the desperation in his voice. "I don't know what I did? Was it my e-!"

"Don't say it Nick! Not now!" Maya said. {Well, at least we're back to Nick now, so that's a start.}

"We have to get back to Kurain now for... master stuff." Maya said uncertain

"No, we don't Mystic Maya! Mystic Venus said everything is i-" Maya suddenly cut her off.

"Something came up and we need to go. Right now." Maya said. "We'll talk about this later."

And with that, they all got up and did their own thing. A weak hour passed before the fey girls left, but Phoenix felt more confused than ever. He needed something to distract him.

Suddenly the phone rang.

"Is this Phoenix Wright, the attorney?

 **XXX**

 **Later on that Day…**

Kristoph Gavin sat angrily in his car. He couldn't believe what had happened. Not only had Mr. Engimar not allowed him to be his client, he did it in the most ludicrous of ways.

"I lost a game of cards to him, and he just said:"

"Thanks for the work Gavin, now be gone. You've lost." Kristoph recounted over the phone.

"Wow, how ridiculous." The person on the other line recounted, his German accent quite heavy. "What a shame, it was going to be my first case against you brother. I was looking forward to it."

"Indeed Klavier… especially because…" Kristoph trailed off as he spoke as he eyed his "decisive" evidence, the one that had arrived in the mail earlier that day. And then, a devious idea entered his head. One that was somehow even worse than the forgery sitting in front of him.

"What was that Kristoph?" Klavier asked.

"Especially because the man he chose over me…. Is a cheater." Kristoph said. "He convinced the defendant with… with…" He deliberately trailed off to create some sort of suspense in his mind. "With a forgery."

"Really? What a joke!"

"Indeed. It's a diary page, supposed to be from the victim's diary. However, it's a false one. I know because it had a symbol, one from the forger man."

"Wait, how would you know this Kristoph?" Klavier intervened. "If you aren't his attorney, how would you know this?"

But before, he could create a story, the phone went dead.


	2. Mistrial

**Chapter 2: Mistrial**

 **April 19** **th** **, District Court No 7, Defendant Lobby No 2, 9:25 AM**

Phoenix Wright kept calling. It was desperate, as the phone was never answered but he knew he could never give up. It wasn't in his nature to do so, regardless of how stubborn it seemed.

"Come on answer already!" Phoenix commanded his phone. "Why are you still ignoring me?" But the phone gave him only the same brief monotone dinging beep on repeat, as it had for most of the last night. Phoenix was pained as he knew he had to silence the phone as he entered the courthouse, especially right now. Not only was he about to be defending in the case to come shortly, but he was still relatively clueless about what exactly had happened.

"All we did yesterday… was play cards!" Phoenix said to his client, Zak Engimar. Engimar just laughed. "And that's all you need." Came the rather relaxed man's reply.

 _No! It really wasn't!_

Phoenix had been in this defendant's lobby several times in his career. It had been here where he'd faced some of his darkest moments, having to drag out a guilty man's trial too save Maya despite knowing the truth. It had also been here he'd seen his greatest vistories, saving his childhood friend from an unjust death. And yet in none of those moments did he feel as duly unprepared as he did right now.

Sitting there reading case files for what seemed to be a pitch perfect case, finally got to him. The frustrations within Phoenix were finally beginning to pile up. His situation with Maya where she literally ran away and avoided him, this case were destroying his patience. Mr. Engimar's previous attorney ( _Some guy named Christopher I think_ ) had literally dropped off the case files at the last possible seconds.

At his office.

At seven that morning.

So not only was Phoenix stressed out about his friends, but now he had to learn a case on the fly. All this was too much and he was about to get angry at Mr. Engimar. No longer was he just politely sitting down with him on the defendant lobby's ugly piss-like futons, but he was standing up face to face with the man, nearly about to chew him out.

"Mr. Engimar! Why can't you just give me a little bit of inf-!" Phoenix had begun when suddenly the entire room's attention turned to the far right corner of the room.

"You little brat!" A strange man had yelled towards a little girl who was talking to him. The girl was Mr. Engimar's daughter, Trucy. In her hand was a ripped halve of a piece of paper, the other part of which was in the strange man's hand. The man was instantly familiar to almost everyone in the room. Mr. Engimar didn't think about the man's identity as he ran instinctually to subdue the man, tackling him to the ground. Only then did he recognize who the man was.

"Mr. Gavin!" Came the surprised reply. Phoenix right behind him, also knew quickly who he was, although more as the man who dropped his case files off earlier that day and little more. Usually known as one of the most composed men around law, he was just profusely sweating as he was being held down.

"Mr. Engimar," Came the calmest reply he could conjure, although still greatly shaky compared to his reputation. "I was just, just…"

"Planting your trap?" came a voice from the doorway. There stood a young man with a striking resemblance to Mr. Gavin, with a detective by his side. "Kristoph, you have created my worst nightmare out of thin air. I just hoped maybe you weren't behind this, but…"

"Klavier Gavin?" Phoenix said out of the blue. "Aren't you prosecuting today?"

"Well, I was indeed to be your opponent Herr Wright." Klavier said. "The night before my brother, Kristoph here, called me and said you had created forged evidence. However, he went completely mum when I asked how he knew, so I ordered a surveillance."

 _So he was going to plant me with faked evidence!? Man, talk about escaping unscathed… But why?_

"Was?" Came Phoenix's reply. Klavier merely nodded.

"Yes. These circumstances have forced the trial to be cancelled, or officially a mistrial." Klavier stated. "Your client is free to go… for now." Klavier came off as a little glum about the cancellation, but he changed his attention toward Kristoph after his statement.

"Kristoph, how could you betray your standards like this?" He told his brother, still shaken although now free to stand. "You were the one who taught me to win with the evidence you are given and nothing more. Where is that man today?"

Kristoph spat back at his brother, hitting straight down the middle of his nose. "That man never existed. I just never had a great need for created evidence. But this was different brother!" Kristoph pleaded, but sounded unsympathetic with a control to his voice that came off as robotic. Klavier merely shook his head in response.

"Goodbye brother." And Klavier walked back out the door as the detective handcuffed Kristoph and escorted him out of the courtroom. It turned out to be Detective Gumshoe, the daily detective Phoenix encountered throughout his cases.

"Hey pal, we'll need a statement since you were a witness." Gumshoe asked. "I'll need you to come down to the station…"

By the time Phoenix entered his office, it was already half past two. The police station was jammed packed, so giving a statement was far more difficult than it had sounded. It had been a long and exhausting day and despite having been a witness, he was still not entirely sure what had happened. He'd won in the trial in the sense of Mr. Engimar being set free, but he hadn't actually done anything. So Phoenix did what he normally did when everyone and everything failed him in a sort: He pulled out the notebook he hid in the smallest file cabinet drawer and began to write.

 _April 19_ _th_ _entry_

 _Today something odd happened: Another lawyer was arrested for forged evidence that was for my case. Very strange, but now he's lost his badge likely. The most peculiar thing was he was caught trying to give it to… well to me. Not directly but through another person._

He stopped there, not sure what else to add. Everything was still so much of a mystery. Phoenix read it back to himself as if to gleam some new knowledge out of it. He gained nothing however and threw it back into its secret spot. He'd always thought it a miracle that Maya had never found it considering her snooping ways. Now he just sat down and pulled out his phone.

 **NO NEW NOTIFICATIONS**

 _Uggh, why won't you answer me? Call me back? Please Maya! PLEASE!_ Slamming his hand into the mirror as he thought to himself, breaking it in the process. The shards all ended up on the floor. He just sighed down at the ground.

 _Guess that doesn't help my luck…_

 **XXX**

 **Meanwhile In Kurain Village…**

Being master was just as hard as Maya Fey had feared it would be. Although peace existed between the main families following the Hazakurain incident if for no other reason than sympathetic unity, the day to day operations of the village were greatly time consuming. Maya was responsible primarily for overseeing the teaching and efficiency of the teaching of the Kurain technique, if at least in theory. In truth, the village lagged significantly in modernization and as a result, things moved quite slowly. Not only was the latest computer a Windows XP, but it was running on a wired connection meaning the speed was significantly weakened. It didn't help that the only working landline was a payphone just outside the train station a full mile away. Maya already implemented plans to bring in more recent equipment, but it wouldn't be until May that they'd be in, so for the time being the village ran at a dial up pace it seemed to Maya.

At this moment, Maya was pouring over village documents when the phone rang for the umpteenth time, Maya had counted. It was a text, from Nick. She moaned, having been up since six and he'd been texting on and off since seven.

 _Can't he give it a break?_ Opening it up, she was confronted with the words "Call me :(" Maya was simultaneously revolted and amused by the smiley at the end of the message. It was more genuine then words could explain but at the same time it seemed so childish.

 _Really Nick?_ She just put the phone back down with no reply. Not even a minute passed when a new reply buzzed in. "I almost got fired. This is important." Maya visibly gasped as she read the message. It was much louder than she expected as an older lady walked into the room to check on her.

"Mystic Ma- I mean Master Maya, are you alright?" She asked.

Maya wiped her forehead before responding. "Yes Mystic Allison. I just hurt my back a little on the chair, it's quite uncomfortable after a long time."

Although Maya was fidgeting with her hair nervously, Allison either didn't catch on or chose to say nothing and simply walked out of the room without a word. Maya then decided she had to break her silence and figure out what had happened today with Nick. She wasn't ready after just one day, but whatever was going on was clearly disturbing her, so she wasted no time in calling. He answered after three rings.

"Maya!" was the greeting of a gleeful Phoenix. "Thank goodness you called finally."

"Master Maya." Was her stiff reply. "Master Maya now, Nick."

"S-Sorry." Now sounding much glummer. "You haven't really used that much around me, so it slipped a little." Now she just felt bad as she knew this was the truth. "For the future."

"Why did you have to leave yesterday?" Phoenix sprung upon her without wasting time. "I just don't kno-"But he didn't get to finish before she interrupted him. "No, you can't say you almost lost your job today and ask about my issues! Gotta tell me what's going on with you."

Phoenix, sitting on the couch in his room, privately thought she was being much more forceful than usual. _She's rarely this direct and critical. Something about it is kind of att-_ Phoenix killed that thought instantly, but didn't realize how badly he'd left her hanging.

"Nick!"

"Sorry. Anyhow there was another lawyer arrested today. He had evidence related to the case I was involved in today. I think he was trying to give it to me." Phoenix began. "We're pretty sure it was forged though."

Suddenly Maya lost all her irritation at that moment, now she just had regret. "Wow, so if he had given it to you and you were caught… that would have been awful. But how would they have known?"

"Prosecutor was his brother, he was feeding him." Phoenix said. "He just happened to catch on."

"Wow, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you." She said. Phoenix saw this as his opening. "Yeah, why did you leave?"

 _Mr. Edgeworth is right, you are stubborn Nick._ "Official business Nick." She said. "Can't really talk about it right now."

Nick pouted on the other end. _I know it's not that important, but fine._ "When will you be back?" He asked.

"May." She said. "New phones come in May so communications will be easier with the village. I'll be back then. Ok?"

Nick was quiet for a moment. "Fine. But don't just ignore me. I don't like it. I'm getting too old to be alone." He sounded much more upbeat then his words were giving away. Maya just played along and laughed. "Alright Nick, I won't. Bye." She forced herself to hang up the phone. Her tone of voice couldn't show the tears in her eyes.

 _He's not ready to know yet._ She reminded herself. _I have to make sure it's not just a phase of mine._

 **A/N: Sorry for complete negligence of writing lately, work has been a pain this past week and a half. This is a lot shorter than my original hopes were, but doing my best to keep the story up to date and alive. Let me know how I'm doing, romance arcs aren't normally what I write so it's new territory for me. Thanks to everyone!**


	3. Disbarment and Sick Days

**Chapter 3: Disbarment and Sick Days**

 **April 24** **th** **, Bar Association, 10:33 AM**

"This special meeting of the Bar Association of Los Angeles calls itself to order." Said a man in a plaid jacket. He sat at a round table with six other men in various shades of blue and red jackets, only the plaid man broke this trend. Standing before this table was Kristoph Gavin, preparing to plead to them with his usual, graceful form oration, but for now he stood in silence as he awaited.

"We are here to hand down our ruling regarding the usage of forged evidence in relation to the case of Shadi Engimar." The plaid man said. "Whoever rules in favor of disbarment, raise your hand."

All six men raised their hands in response. And it was at this moment that it really hit Kristoph: he'd lost. There was no amount of oratory greatness that could save him right now from being unemployed. He'd made a mistake he couldn't erase.

"I would like to speak in my defense if I may?" Kristoph asked. "It is only fair for a dissent isn't it?"

Two of the men at the table, other attorneys it seemed, shouted "nay!" in unison. Soon it was three, four and then all six rowdily jeering "nay!" at Kristoph's request. The plaid man put his hands down in shushing motion. "We're not at a Gavinners concert folks, even if we have a Gavin here." He said in a harsh tone. "Normally in a unanimous decision, a dissent is unnecessary. However, I'll allow it."

Gavin bowed and began to speak. "Thank you. Now I would like to say I base the majority of my dissent on the fact that I presented nothing in a presiding case, but to another person. I maintain that I had no hand in possible creation of the forgery and that any punishment on me is unjust and unlawful as well." He spoke with a calm conviction and confidence riding in his tone that he sounded greatly convincing, despite the multitude of evidence against him. The men at the table looked almost unaffected by anything Kristoph had said.

"Gavin, if that is you argument then I'm afraid you are sadly mistaken. We based our decision on more than presentation of evidence." Began the plaid man, before the man on his right stood up and took over.

"You were Mr. Engimar's attorney up until the final day before trial, so you would be the only one with the time and knowledge of knowing your participation to prepare such a carefully crafted forgery." His voice was very deep and punctuated, but he was easily understandable for most in the room. "Phoenix Wright had under 24 hours to be fully prepared so there's no way he's involved. So that means it's you."

Kristoph just chuckled. "Gordon, you've always been a stuttering moron." He said in a calculated tone of aggravation. "The fact that my fate is in your hands is the true misstep of justice as you fools call it." The only emotion Kristoph allowed himself to show was a crooked smile, but his voice had given away the newly shaken grounds he realized he stood upon.

"Ignore him." The plaid man said. "He's just being a spoiled brat now that he's realized he finally found the one case he can't win." He then got up and stood in front of Kristoph. "Your badge please." He said demandingly.

Kristoph unclipped the badge from the spot on his collar cuff it normally hang upon. He stared at it for a second contemplating the gravity of handing it over. _I've truly faced my real match:_

 _The law._

 _The absolutist nature of the law. It cannot be beaten, only slightly bent if one is not looking. Spending my law looking for loopholes has shown me that there are less loopholes then there are exploitations. Failures of interpretation more than failures of writers._

"Kristoph…"

He then stuck the pin side deep into the man's hand, making the man's hand bleed out and on to the floor. Kristoph said nothing more to them as he walked out the door and to his ugly green Camaro.

 _The law is not my ally any longer._

 **XXX**

 **Later that night…**

"Stop calling Klavier!" Kristoph yelled at his phone. "I don't need you to help!" He threw it at the wall, desperately wanting the ringing to stop. He got his wish as it combusted when it hit the wall. Kristoph looked at the phone, shaking his head and looking away.

 _Whatever. I can buy more._

He'd been drinking heavily since returning home and it showed in his appearance. His normally clean and kept looking suit had become unbuttoned and stained with grape on the lower right. His normally straight hair was frizzled and cow licked in various spots. Looking into his eyes, one would only encounter a lost and glazed expression as they roamed inside like trapped fireflies in a jar. This was not the cool, collected giant of the courtroom that the world at large knew of; this was a broken, drunk of a man hitting the bottom of the barrel.

Standing up he walked to the dresser in his bedroom and looked at the picture on the bed stand. It was a picture of him, Klavier and their parents from a long time ago, the picture still being in Technicolor quality. The frame was a dark variety, perhaps a visualization of his life right now, the darkness capturing the wonderful past he once lived. "God, where has my life gone?" Kristoph began to soliloquy aloud. "I was my own best advocate, and now I've put myself into this mess, one of which may not be reversible." He then angrily clutched the photograph and threw it against the wall, destroying the frame. "Well I say whatever! I will not crawl into a hole and die. I will fight! I will-!"

"EUUGH!"

Kristoph stopped in his tracks he heard this shrieking scream. It was nearby, so Kristoph wasted no time to step out and see what was going on. The hallway was deserted, and after walking up and down the hallway, no other noise occurred.

 _Must have been someone's movie being played too loud or their music. Guess I'll just get back to b-!_

"EUUGH!" _There it is again! The exact same shriek from earlier! It's coming from that room across from me._

His apartment number being 217, he approached apartment 219 and knocked on the door twice with authority. He waited seconds before doing so again, when the door did open. In the doorway was a younger man, dressed in an orange jacket with a patch of hair high up into the right of his head, but even more peculiar was the artist hat on his head. He looked like a motley character, Kristoph had decided to himself.

"Good evening sir." Kristoph began. "We haven't met before despite living across for the longest time. My name is Kristoph Gavin." He showed his hand out in respect for a handshake. The man hesitated at first, but did return the favor.

"I'm Laurice. Laurice Deauxnim." The man said. "Aspiring artist intending to carry the torch of Elise Deauxnim for life!" He had stuck out his paint brush dangerously close to Kristoph's face, to which he safely pushed it away.

"Right." Kristoph replied. "I came to talk to about some disturbances I heard from this room earlier. Do these have anything to do with your art?" His tone steadily becoming condescending.

"Larry!" a voice from the room shouted. "Come back to bed!" _Clearly not…_ Kristoph thought.

"Just please keep the noise down." He said. "I don't want to call the landlord on you, Mr. Deauxnim."

His expression became much grimmer as he began sweating heavily. "No don't do that! I'm not evil! I still haven't even paid Nick back yet for his last defense of me!"

"Who in the world is Nick?" Kristoph asked quizzedly. It was the only thing of interest he'd said all night, Kristoph had mused to himself.

"Phoenix Wright! Ace Attorney and childhood friend!" Laurice's enthusiastic reply came. "Although, maybe that'll count as an IOU…" He began trailing off, completely ignoring Kristoph. Kristoph then said nothing as he walked back to his room. Kristoph then went to his laptop computer and typed in "Phoenix Wright Law Offices" mumbling in laughter after discovering his answer.

 **XXX**

 **Earlier that night…**

Klavier Gavin hated his brother sometimes, often in fact. Those early days in their lives when it was just the two of them he'd been cold and distant, treating him as a prospect and little more. He hated him especially right now as he couldn't get ahold of him.

"Answer!" He yelled at the phone, but only got the rings to voicemail.

"This is Kristoph Gavin's cell phone. Please leave a message and I'll decide whether or not to return it. Cheers." Klavier grunted. _When'd he ever feel so entitled like nobility? In America nonetheless._

He called again. This time straight to voicemail. The phone was off. "Shit." Klavier said as he tossed the phone into his desk. The phone then rang again, although Klavier knew it wouldn't be his brother.

"Hey Klavier! We got a show in two hours! Where are you?" The man's voice on the other end went over the phone.

"Not going to make it tonight." Klavier said bluntly. "Cancel it all."

"You kidding me? We don't cancel shows! Get your ass up here before I fire ya and ruin ya band!"

Klavier just hung up. He didn't want to hear it. Not today. The Prosecutors office was the perfect place to be on a solitary Friday night. He was all alone.

Well he was, before she entered the room, standing right before his desk in a relatively barren room.

"What was all your foulness about?" The woman said. "It sounded very foolish from the other room."

"Good evening, Herr Von Karma. I worked on not calling you fraulein this time." He said with a cunning little smirk on his face. "Hopefully to your satisfaction."

Franziska just sighed. _Does he ever learn? I'm not his toy._ She flicked her whip in the air, not towards him but enough to catch him off guard. "Close enough." Was her response. "Now, what were you being foolish about?"

Shrugging his shoulders before he spoke, he said calmly "They told me I have a show tonight, but I'm not feeling well, so I said no."

This time Franziska whipped him. "Fool! You cannot simply call a concert off, are you mad?" Her tone demanding. "People pay good money to see you, and you can't cancel just because you aren't having a good day!"

Klavier now had his smile again. "Herr Von Karma, you should be the manager for me. You'd whip me into shape!"

 _Where do I start with this kid?_ Franziska sighed to herself."I pass on your foolish offer." Klavier laughed. "Who said I offered it fraulein?" She whipped him again, but he just took it and laughed. "Not fraulein, edle Frau!" She said with playful anger. "I am of the noble Von Karma name! Not some hole in a bar woman!"

Klavier just stuck out his tongue. "Whatever you say." He said. They both then began to leave the office, when Klavier turned around and handed Franziska a ticket with a card. "Backstage with me for you, edle Frau!"

 _How cute._ "No thanks." She said blankly. "I prefer the classical sounds to those of broken stereos."

"Aww, not even to see me?" He said. "The temptation is too resisting, I know. So take them without hesitation." Finishing this calmly, he gently slid the tickets into her hands, before walking away silently.

Franziska felt her face blushing. Checking no one else was around to see this uncharacteristic opening of hers, she just smiled back with no around. But she wasn't ready yet she decided. Not when she still had feelings for… that man….

She just put the passes in the mailbox for Klavier and walked back to her office.

 **A/N: Two updates in as many days! What a miracle for me! Anyhow, this will be the last really short chapter as the detail will increase. I'll try for another chapter by Wednesday.**

 **A Gavins centric chapter wasn't the original plan, but I thought it turned out real nicely in the end. Both are really important to the story, so important to give them some time in the spotlight. Anyhow, hope you liked this, R &R would be great!**


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